Messi leads Argentina in final World Cup qualifier

Buenos Aires, Sep 28 (IANS) Famed Argentinean footballer Lionel Messi will lead his national team in the final double-match of the South American Qualifying Tournament that will decide who goes to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, for which Argentina has already qualified.

Argentina’s Football Association (AFA) announced the partial lineup Friday for the two upcoming games with Peru and Uruguay to be played Oct. 11 and 15 in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, respectively, Xinhua reported.

So far, AFA has released only the names of participating players playing for foreign leagues, as well as forwards Sergio ” Kun” Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain.

Team coach Alejandro Sabella has recruited the following 23 players (team, region):

Goalies: Sergio Romero (Monaco, France) and Mariano Andujar ( Catania, Italy).

Defenders: Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City, England), Hugo Campagnaro (Inter, Italy), Federico Fernandez (Napoli, Italy), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle, England), Ezequiel Garay (Benfica, Portugal), Cristian Ansaldi (Zenit, Russia) Jose Basanta ( Monterrey, Mexico) and Marcos Rojo (Sporting Lisboa, Portugal).

Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Barcelona, Spain), Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid, Spain), Ever Banega (Valencia, Spain), Augusto Fernandez (Celta de Vigo, Spain), Lucas Biglia (Lazio, Italy), Ricardo Alvarez (Inter, Italy), Erik Lamela (Tottenham, England) and Jose Sosa (Metallist, Ukraine).

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Spain), Rodrigo Palacio ( Inter, Italy), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli, Italy), Sergio Agero ( Manchester City, England) and Ezequiel Lavezzi (Paris Saint Germain, France).